


A - Awake

by lightbringer666



Series: Descendants Alphabet [1]
Category: Descendants (2015), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Carlos-centric, Isle of the Lost (Disney), M/M, Nightmares, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 00:47:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11589585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightbringer666/pseuds/lightbringer666
Summary: You can take the boy out of the Isle, but you can't take the memories.





	A - Awake

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever Descendants fanfiction!

Carlos couldn't sleep when he arrived in Auradon. 

The mattress of his bed was far too soft, he felt he was drowning in it. Like the Isle had somehow damaged him, making him immune to life's luxuries. Forced to take them with a grain of salt, looking over his shoulder like a wounded animal, waiting for the floor to cave in. The ceiling to fall.

He slept on the floor for the first month he lived in Auradon, and even that was more comfortable than on the Isle. 

*_*_*_*

When he got comfortable sleeping in his new room, he still didn't sleep well. Sometimes it was nightmares. Remembering when he was Cruella's dog. A servant at her beck and call, too scared to fight back. And the entire island knew that he was weak, and it was often used to their advantage. Kids can be cruel, and villain kids can be crueler, but nobody can beat Ms. De Vil at her own game.

Sometimes, he'd refuse to sleep, cuddling Dude close, afraid that if he allowed himself to drift off, he would wake up in his mother's coat closet, clutching Evie's old pillow that he'd had to leave behind, surrounded by bear traps and faux fur coats that reek of cigarettes. 

Afraid that if he closed his eyes, he'd open them and this would all be a dream. 

*_*_*_*

During the day, it was getting harder and harder to tell that the villain kids were any different than all the others. Mal was the King's girlfriend, Evie a star student, Jay was an athlete. The three of them had changed so much, while still staying who they were. But Carlos was still the tech nerd. 

Of course, he had far better equipment than he did back on the Isle. He had Internet, plug in and wireless, a laptop, a 3D printer, and a series of new models of what he had back home. But he was still weak, he was still nerdy. He just had more outlets. 

His friends had tried to console him. Mal would always be happy to remind him of how much he belongs here. And Evie, who was like a sister to him, would design with him and have a nice girl talk. 

And Jay worked hard to remind him how loved he was and how strong he was. How he could do anything, stand up to anyone. He wasn't in Cruella's hands anymore and she could never see him, or hurt him again. 

Auradon Prep had a strict bed sharing policy, and no matter the sexuality or gender, students, especially couples, were to stay in their own dorms and beds after lights out. But Fairy Godmother had made an exception when she had heard him screaming one night, and arrived to the room to see Jay helplessly staring at his boyfriend. Not being able to go to comfort him. 

Some nights, the only way to pull him from the island was with Jay's arms around him. Jay's deep voice drowning out the shrill one of his mother's. Soothing circles getting rubbed into his back to ground him to this moment. Smelling tourney gear cleaner and the fancy new soap and  _Jay_ , the scent making him forget the cigarette smoke that surrounded his past. 

Yes, some nights, he could drift back to sleep without much problem, grounded and comfortable on his soft Auradon mattress and Dude sleeping between him and Jay. 

But some nights, he just stays awake.

 


End file.
